i do not want to play marco polo

With the installation of the 18 foot, above ground, blow-up pool from Sam's club, we now have enough crap in our backyard to look like white trash. Chicken coop, trampoline, recycled redwood deck, L's trailer he uses for hauling stuff, a half-built shed, the kids' play structure (unused for eight or so years and half hidden in weeds), broken screens on the porch, old chairs of various makes, models and colors...it's really coming together back there. A fridge full of beer and an old couch is all we need to bring the look home.

It was something of an impulse buy, although we considered it last year but found they were sold out. We hit that first 90 degree, 95% humidity day last weekend and felt we needed the pool to survive this summer. We could get a pool pass and drive over to the park, but that seems like such a production sometimes. And then when you get there, you either have to be in the swimming lane and really working it and watching out for other people, or you have to be in the general swimming area where noisy kids will splash you. The sons will need snacks and slide passes and goggles and beach shoes and on and on. What I have in mind is floating on my back in the quiet dark, possibly naked, staring up at the stars, and pretending I am a million miles away.